Inside the New York Yankees clubhouse with MLB.com beat writer Bryan Hoch.

Reflections on Opening Night

Opening Day is always very special, even when it’s delayed by 30 hours and becomes Opening Night. Joe Girardi said that the moment he’ll want to remember from Tuesday’s 3-2 win over the Blue Jays is the final out — Mariano Rivera inducing Marco Scutaro to roll harmlessly to Robinson Cano at second base, just a short throw away from out No. 27.

That had sentimental cache for Girardi, being his first win as the Yankees manager — imagine, the first person other than Joe Torre to record a victory in that position since 1995. Since I’m not managing the Yankees, though, I’ll remember the two catches by Melky Cabrera. The first one was nice enough, crashing against the wall in right-center field, but the second one really made you go, ‘Wow,’ skidding across the turf in left-center.

Melky had a long way to run for both of those balls, and they came on back-to-back batters. That’s conditioning, ladies and gentlemen. Good thing Girardi made ‘em run in Spring Training.

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21 Comments

I agree with Matt, Mussina is on the last leg of his career, it’s a pipe dream to think he will be able to win 15 games this season, he’ll be lucky to win half that total. He definitely failed to show that ability during ST. It’s a mistake to make him a #2 or #3 pitcher on this staff.

The other day, I was looking at a photo of Melky Cabrera… and I noticed his body frame is pretty large, he’s a hefty guy, especially for a Centerfielder. But my real question here is: Why can’t we get anymore power out of this guy, he has the body to do it, and easily clear the fences 15-20 times, as suggested earlier on this blog. I hop hitting coach K-Long thinks the same. I love the Melk-man’s defense, and his energy is great, adding the power would be icing on the cake. Maybe hitting coach K-Long notices this as well. What do you guys think?

I’m hoping that Mussina can return, at least partially to 2006 form. If we can get even a 4.50 ERA from Mussina this year, I’ll be happy. Mussina has always been one of my favorite pitchers, not because of his accomplishments, but because of his attitude and is style of pitching. I have a soft spot for the Madduxes, the Mussinas, the Kennedys of the world that aren’t gifted with the ability to blow it by hitters at 100 mph. Instead those guys have to be smart, adapt, and learn how to get hitters out by changing speeds, locations, and breaks. Every pitch is a set up for the next 2 or 3 pitches…I love that style of pitcher.

Mussina has no choice but to try to reinvent himself, but I’m not sure that it’s going to be enough. He is already at the end of his career. Don’t be surprised to see him put together some real ugly performances.

I was listening to David Cone (love him) on the Michael Kay show (love him too) and David was saying that the Yankees have been drilling Mussina to start pitching inside (for strikes), kind of like Greg Maddux. It makes sense cause when a pitcher gets up in age they need to kind of re-invent themselves, and pitching inside more, is a thing Mussina needs to do this season.

Waterfront Park is a great place to watch a game, especially during the summer. I spent an afternoon there as a fan watching the Thunder and Binghamton Mets in a doubleheader with my dad, first row right by first base. It’s great to take a step back and see young, hungry players follow their dreams. Shelley Duncan played first base for Trenton that day.

Great to see you got your MLB.TV working!….Just in time to see the excellent perfomance by Melky !!!….The Yankees looked awesome last night, with, also, especially great games by: Wang, Giambi, Joba, and Mariano Rivera!…Great start to the 2008 season !!! Go Yankees !!! … http://baseballtheyankeesandlife.mlblogs.com/

Melky does add that youthful edge, and enthusiasm to this team which is badly needed on this team, but I seriously doubt that is capable of ever hitting 25+ HR for this team in a season. Most likely will top out around 15-20 at most if lucky. Just glad this team didn’t trade him away for Santana during the offseason.

I went to see the kids play at Trenton. With the threat of rain and the NYY opener on TV there wasn’t much of a crowd. Waterfront Park is a very nice facility and is a must see for anyone as interested in the kids as I am.

Me and my buddy went from Tier MVP 15, and walked down to a row from the field right next to the Blue Jays dugout…the usher their said we couldnt sit there because they were George Steins seats, but he didnt care if we sat 3 rows back. So thats where i sat from the 5’th inning on! It was pretty rediculous…saw Rudy and Bloomberg come into the Stadium. Also, Frank Thomas warms up w/ a giant piece of Re-bar, not a bat. And the next guy up after him (I forget who) tried to use the Re-bar but it was to heavy for him…haha, i let him have it.

Wow is all I can say. Melky, I made the comments months ago about what enthusiasm, youth and ability he brought to the team in 2007. I also made the comment about all the trade talk would only ensure his performances went up a notch or two or three. He will hit 25 plus home runs and go from gold to platinum. I know it is only one game but what a game winning performance by him.

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